Electricity Allergy Sufferers Find Modern Society Tough
from the geodesic-dome dept
It's pretty common for people to deride modern technologies as being harmful to the health, like "iPods can damage your ears", or "text messaging hurts your thumbs". Some are taking this to a whole new level, claiming that the existence of electric fields, made more abundant by numerous gadgets, are damaging to the health, with sufferers claiming hip pains, bad sleep, and rashes, among other things. Sufferers back up their point by claiming to have been relieved by installing expensive electricity filters, and by the fact that nerves in the human body do respond to electrical impulses. Of course, some will say that this is merely the placebo effect, and it does sound like something out of the movie Safe, but the emergence of people who are allergic to modern society is a real trend, whether psychosomatic or not. Until science can definitively support or debunk their claims, they probably won't get much help from modern society; then again it's not uncommon for people to want to ban things, just because the long-term consequences aren't known.
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in that case, you are harmful to yourself!
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Electricity
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Baby Steps!
keep stepping Bob.
Dr. Leo Marvin
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Brilliant analyses guys
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What does this mean?
It's psychosomatic, purely psychosomatic.
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Electrical fields
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I have the answer
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Re: Brilliant analyses guys
yeah some of us did. and, well, this same list is that of common symptoms to being a parent.
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Natural VS Synthetic
But the area for reasearch should be the testing of how your 90 IR devices, 27 computers, 5 televisons, Bluetooth, cordless phones,cell phones, pda's, hygenic disposition, health cleansing products,diet, mental state of mind ,etc all co-habitate and then change the arrangement of all these things or merely take objects out of the equation.
USE THE HYPOTHESIS OF the possibility that all these devices could be creating health problems by attaching the ION,electro-magnetic fields, enviroment into creating disease.. Just a theory nothing to be hung up on the self-gratifaction of winning forum/peer recognition.
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Physiology 101
If you've had an introductory course in physiology, you'll have learned the difference between a specific and non-specific immune response. From this, you'll know it is impossible to have an "allergy" to electricity.
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I have the solution!
You take apart your appliances, and you wrap them in a conductive foil!
You then proceed to wrap living spaces, again, in a solid conductive mesh or foil.
And ta-da! No more electrical fields to worry about.
If you need to go outside, make a hazmat suit out of foil.
This solution is cheap, cost effective, and long-term.
The only problem is the victim, who will be soothed by the placebo effect of these items, and infer any good occurances afterwards (My dreams have improved, they're more vivid and real!) are the result of the foil. They will be delusional, and resistant to claims otherwise. Even the act of suggesting it is a placebo will do nothing make them believe otherwise, and they will go crazy, suggesting all their friends do likewise.
Pretty soon, the fashion of the day is to wear full body suits... for everyone to be a walking faraday cage.
*sigh* Nevertheless, I really wish these people would go away. Maybe form a colony that doesn't use electricity. If they don't want to participate in the real world, and they wish to complain of common, typical ailments as being the effect of fantastic or unusual causes, then they should be told that the simplest solution for them is to avoid the real world altogether. As I stand in my room, I sit next to an artificial light, near several electrical appliances running at various frequences, with many wires running through the walls, as well as a few AC outlets and a surge protector. Several wireless signals from within 20 feet pass through my body completely undisturbed, more signals are caused by a wireless phone, a cellphone, and the signals that travel throughout my entire city. My world, it seems, has become one conveyed invisibly, its intricate weave unseen and unheard. Constantly, my body is subjected to 'harsh' radiation, strong signals from many, many frequencies, and I know not the difference. Neither, it seems, do the waves.
Invisibly entangled,
Aaron Friel
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LIVING IN ISOLATION
++++
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/mid_/4709388.stm
The woman allergic to modern life
BBC Wales news website
Louise Solomons lives in isolation
Louise Solomons' instructions were explicit: "Wear no body spray or after shave and leave your mobile phone in your car".
But as I entered her home in the hills above Builth Wells, she seemed on edge.
Seemingly unsatisfied that I had not followed her instructions, she sniffed my clothes as I sat in her living room.
Asking if we could sit further apart as she was affected by my clothes' washing detergent, she told me about life with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).
The condition has made Ms Solomons, 54, allergic to the things that are part and parcel of the 21st Century.
Diagnosed in 1988, she suffers with flu-like symptoms if she is exposed to anything chemically-based, from perfume and furniture polish to bathroom cleaner.
Frail and with delicate balance, I'm ultra-sensitive to heat, cold, light sound, touch and especially smell
Louise Solomons
Before her condition became too severe, she enjoyed a full and active life giving talks on music, playing table tennis and working voluntarily with children and blind people, among other things.
But so debilitating are her allergies, she says, she has been unable to work for 16 years.
Then three years ago she claimed she started having reactions to electricity too. This is a condition known as electrical sensitivity (ES) which some claim is a result of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) associated with electricity supply and electrical equipment.
The prevalence of MCS and ES has not been measured in the UK, but sufferers claim both conditions are on the increase.
In Ms Solomons' case, the combined impact of MCS and ES has caused a major upheaval in her life. She says her illnesses have cost her career, home, looks and faith.
Her increasingly poor health also led to financial difficulties and in December she left her native London for the Welsh countryside where "the air is cleaner".
She now resides in a rented home in a remote, hillside hamlet near Builth Wells, Powys, with just sheep for company.
However, by the beginning of April Ms Solomons will have to find a new home and is searching for some caring and environmentally aware householders who could help.
Louise Solomons pictured in 1972 before the allergies became too severe
"Frail and with delicate balance, I'm ultra-sensitive to heat, cold, light sound, touch and especially smell," said Ms Solomons.
"During my 20s I worked in a medical research laboratory, exposed to chemicals and low-level radiation.
"After a fortnight in a fume-filled hotel room, I returned with virus-like feelings. A family function in cigar smog was the final straw and I could tolerate less and less afterwards.
"Anything with a smell was a hazard."
She added that her life was now "unbearably bleak".
She claims that sewing too near a bright light led to ES. Symptoms are brought on by radios and televisions, for instance.
Ignorance of her condition is an extra burden to sufferers, she explained.
Over the last 30 years and all over the world, no links have been found between these symptoms and any form of exposure
Dr Michael Clark, Health Protection Agency
"People like me are treated like pariahs and acceptance of the condition comes hard," she said.
"But do you think I would have given up a satisfying life to live in the middle of nowhere with ghastly symptoms if I had a choice?"
Allergy UK said MCS had been described as the 21st Century disease.
It said the smell from soap powders and fabric conditioners, new carpet or furniture, paints, plastics, air fresheners, deodorants, some people are also affected by certain foods and food additives, and these could trigger a reaction.
As for ES, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) published a report last year about the condition, but scientists disputed whether it was linked to EMFs.
Dr Michael Clark, HPA scientific spokesman said about ES: "We don't contest that some people get some disabling symptoms which are very real.
"Over the last 30 years and all over the world, no links have been found between these symptoms and any form of exposure.
"For people with MCS it's a different matter. There is evidence that some people are sensitive to some chemicals."
Dr Peter Kraus, Ms Solomons' GP between 1988 and 2003, confirmed her health problems.
"There is no NHS facility for patients with the problems of Ms Solomons.
"I feel that she does not fit into any of the standard medical specialities and as a result is in a very vulnerable state. I am surprised how long she has survived in her current terrible situation."
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Re:
hehehe...i was wondering when someone was going to bring that up.
it seams that a portion of the population living closer to the poles would experience this throughout history. . .
as a severe allergy sufferer...i vote we ban trees, grass, weeds, mold, and dust mites! ;)
the article was interesting and maybe the studies have some validity, who knows at this point. but if changing your house, style of life or whatever makes you feel better...even if its just the placebo affect...then do it.
but i dont think you can expect main stream to change.
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Re: Natural VS Synthetic
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Also, sounds to me like they're just calling it allergy because it's similar to having an allergy. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's grouped together with the type of illness allergies are.
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allergy to ellectricity
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Electricity Allergy Sufferers Find Modern Society
"but the emergence of people who are allergic to modern society is a real trend" - Yes I think they are called Luddites. They been around for a while now guy.
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I HATE YOU
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Re: Electrical fields
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Electrical Hyper Sensitivity - EHS or ES
As a child I was never sick. I couldn't even imagine how anyone could be allergic to anything.
At the age of 9, I got exposed to undiluted pestisides (this is one of the links associated to EHS). Then later as an adult I would get disfiguring swellings and blisters on my face, mouth or arm as reactions to pesticides on fruits and vegies.
In my 30s I developed sinus infections followed by Multiple Chemical Sensitivity or MCS.
In my late 30s I developed Electrical Hyper Sensitivity.
My 20 year life as a Software Engineer stopped the day I got paralysed from working around a testing room full of elecronics.
Today 12 years later, my sensitivity to EMFs and radiation has escalated to where I have to live like a hermit. A trip any where can leave me in bed for days or more. I have to constantly be on the look-out for cell towers, power lines, power boxes, transformers, PC's and every kind of electrical thing.
I found 3 rules apply to my illness:
The power strenght of the electric device,
The amount of time exposed, and
The distance I was from that device.
I can identify the electrical item that it is bothering me, because I can feel a pulse from it, it feels like a throbing in my muscles, and all I have to do is match it to the sound that the item is making.
Besides being paralysed, I can lose feeling in any area that has been over exposed, but I mostly get pain of various degrees.
This illness is very similar to a sun-burn, because it takes time for my body to recover and each exposure afterwards can make the prevous ones worse.
Electrical Hyper Sensitivity is not imagined, it is not a fake illness. It's for real!
In Sweden, people with EHS are considered to be handicaped and have to have special rooms in hospitals and hotels to acomindate them, like there are for people in wheelchairs.
In the US, it is political because of the powerful ulitity companies. Just consider how easy it is for a utility company to put a high power line, or a cell tower over top your house or property, and you can see how helpless we are in this country.
I am afraid EHS will become more common in the future, with no help or relief, until people honestly look at what we are doing to ourselves in our modern man-made world.
Sara
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Re: I have the solution!
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